As the General Assembly concludes another busy week in Richmond, legislators are preparing for a session milestone: crossover. By the end of Tuesday, February 10, the House and Senate must complete work on their own legislation (except for the budget bill). To meet this timeline, the House and Senate recently held marathon committee meetings, with debate stretching late into the night. Concurrently, the floor sessions are increasingly lengthy as we wade through hundreds of bills. Amidst the usual partisan rhetoric, however, the House has passed significant legislation to protect property rights, improve access to health care, and reduce the cost of higher education. Additionally, several of my own bills have passed through committee and will soon be heard on the House floor. Look for updates on those bills in next week's newsletter!

Current statutes permit law enforcement to seize a suspect's assets prior to conviction of a crime. The suspect must then prove that he or she lawfully acquired those assets. House Bill 1287, of which I am a co-patron, prohibits law enforcement from seizing assets until after an individual has been convicted of a crime and completed the appeals process. I believe citizens are innocent until proven guilty, and this legislation will protect innocent people from losing their property.

Education

As a mother of five and a grandmother of five, I understand firsthand the burden posed by the rising cost of higher education. For this reason, I am pleased that the House passed HB 1692, legislation giving students pursuing degrees in high-demand fields the option of a more affordable "flat-fee degree." Equally important is HB 2320, which establishes a new cooperative bachelor's degree program in Virginia. Through a combination of online, community college, or college/university courses, the initiative allows students to earn a bachelor's degree for just $4,000 per year.

Health Care

Earlier this week, the House passed "Right to Try" legislation giving terminally ill patients better access to life-saving treatments that have not yet been approved by the FDA. House Bill 1750 addresses the bureaucratic delays that often cause patients to miss opportunities to try experimental drugs. The full text of the bill is available online HERE.

Support for Israel

During this session, I introduced House Joint Resolution 659 encouraging support for the nation of Israel. I consider this a common-sense resolution underscoring our ties to Israel. With little fanfare, the bill passed unanimously with bipartisan support in the House Rules Committee.

Yesterday, however, HJ 659 reached the House floor. As the vote occurred, nearly the entire Democratic caucus walked off the floor to indicate non-support. Given the opportunity to reconsider their votes, they failed to do so. A video of the vote is below, as is a related article.

Virginia Democrats Flee Chamber Twice Rather Than Vote on Resolution in Support of Israel